What's the best way of digitising tapes? I have a tape player, a computer, Goldwave (which I know how to use, at least) and, probably, a stereo to stereo lead somewhere or t'other. That can go in the headphones socket of the tape player.
Ideally you want a tape machine that has a dedicated audio output, intended for good reproduction, rather than the headphone socket - something with holes at the back for external speakers, or plugging into a bigger hi-fi unit. This will have less hiss than the headphone socket, which is usually louder and not so great for recording from. You'd also want a computer that has a dedicated input for external audio, rather than a socket for microphone recording, as again the settings should allow for greater range and less audible hiss and flare... so it depends on the tape machine and the computer as to what you can do with it.
Whatever you end up with, though, you can filter digitally afterwards. If you end up with something a bit hissy I'd be happy to try and process it for you?
All correct, but of course it's far better to get a good sound at source than try and clean it up afterwards. Trying to digitally remove hiss almost inevitably generates other artefacts or worsens the overall sound quality in some way.
Alternatively Stephen, I've got access to a fairly top-notch tape deck and hard disc recorder at the moment. Is it anything I could assist with?
__________________
"Yes I saw her in the chip shop / so I said get yer top off"
It appears that my hi-fi outputs to its speakers by wires rather than by decent sized leads. There is a headphone jack of course, but nothing better than that.
Mark, it's some tapes that I'm being loaned. Not sure what the time period is for me being able to have them, but I'm keen to not hang on to them too long, so want everything set up for when they arrive. I'd copy them onto another cassette and send them to you to do some magic with, but they're all master tapes for various things, so I think that'd defeat the point of their 1st generation-ness!
-- Edited by Stephen on Wednesday 18th of April 2012 08:08:12 AM
Yes, Alphi specifically requested some seventh-generation tapes converted to 32kb mp2s as a matter of fact :)
Re: the tape hiss though, part of what is supposed to be arriving are, as stated, master tapes, so I'm keen to try and get them transferred across as well as possible, otherwise there ain't much point...
I'm always very wary of trying to remove tape hiss on a home PC. As Sturdy says it can actually lead to a lot more problems than it solves. Best bet is to get the raw signal as best as possible and then see what works, try several captures if your not happy but try and resist playing around with EQ and Noise Reduction, that's always been my mantra when transfering stuff from tape.
If you are unsure how good your setup is, it can be useful to first try copying something you are already familiar with (such as a commercially produced cassette). It should then be easier to judge whether the digitising process is introducing a lot of noise/distortion/etc.
It's better to use your computer's 'line-in' connection, if it's got one. The microphone socket might be OK, but they are sometimes poorer quality.
I agree that digital noise filtering is best avoided.
